Core77

The ZipCharge Go: A Portable EV Charging Solution That Needs Some Help

By Rain Noe - November 4, 2021

in Cars | Sustainability

Here's an unfinished solution to a difficult problem.

Some 40% of UK households don't have off-street parking, says startup ZipCharge. Not having a garage or driveway makes it impossible to own an electric car; the UK doesn't have widespread streetside charging stations, so there'd be no way to juice the things.

Which is where ZipCharge comes in. They've developed a portable charging station with a rolling suitcase form factor called the ZipCharge Go. The idea is that you charge it up inside your house or apartment, then roll it out to your vehicle. It takes 30-60 minutes to transfer its energy into your car, and it's not a full charge; just enough juice to give you 20-40 miles of range, depending on what model of EV you have.

All of this seems wildly impractical; it's difficult to imagine spending 30-60 minutes outside each day to watch over the thing as it charges. The alternative would be to leave it unminded, but the device cannot be cheap and theft is surely a concern.

Also: Let's say your commute is stretching that 20-40 mile range. You'd have to tote this to the office, charge it back up, and repeat the charging task at work for the ride back home. (In the demo video someone is shown hoisting this into the trunk, so apparently it is light enough to lift.) I think it would take someone very dedicated to the idea of driving an EV to add all of these steps to their daily routing.

Enter a caption (optional)

Still, I admit I've got no better ideas, and at least these guys are trying. I think this would be doable if EVs had an additional charging port inside their trunks or frunks, so you could have a ZipCharge Go safely locked inside as it charged, but they don't. Do you have any better ideas?

o

Favorite This
Q
5

Comment

Comments

Rizak the Really Horrible

3 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

Redesign it to act like a tire boot. That way it's locked to the car while it does its thing.

!Report as spam
Donald Jones

3 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

If EV's like Tesla had an interior add on charger port, then you could easily buy a 1500 dollar 5KW battery and extend the life of your batteries. Buy a cheap 5 year old EV, which has dropped in price by 60% and extend its life.

!Report as spam
Martin Keane

3 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

Rapid chargers are wide spread in all UK cities - just take car to charger once a week to recharge while you walk the dog / go for a run / do the shopping ....

!Report as spam
- Martin Keane
  
  Martin Keane
  
  3 years ago
  
  Z
  
  Z
  
  Reply
  
  could be handy as an emergency charger similar to a portable jump start battery
  !Report as spam
Douglas Schaller

3 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

1. Partial Battery swap. Instead of plugging this in to charge your vehicle, you just install it into your trunk or slot or something. Obviously this would mean major design/engineering change to the vehicle.....or maybe just adding a charging port in the trunk?
2. Service that would hire a device like ZipCharge, could be a larger cart or vehicle that chargers your car for you. Basically, pay some poor soul to wait out in the cold UK weather and charge your car.

!Report as spam